This real poison Agut

The Spaniard will be, until his last match, a difficult player to face, no matter the conditions or the surface.

Strong, solid win from Bautista Agut in the first round against a local player who certainly didn’t disgrace himself, and in a match-up that I don’t think is all that easy for Agut either, given that Maestrelli has real serving quality, as well as an attacking game that can cause problems for the Spaniard. Once Agut managed to establish a fairly neutral baseline rally, he was clearly the stronger one without a shadow of a doubt, but again, it wasn’t easy to get through and he held up well.

Now he’s facing a Nakashima who’s a touch less aggressive, but just as good a server and stronger from the baseline. A slight difference that could change everything?

Nakashima is often labeled as a player who reveals his opponents’ true level because the American does everything well and very rarely plays bad matches. He’s a serious and diligent player. His level on clay isn’t exceptional, but even on this surface he keeps things stable and high enough to win quite a few matches.

I’m a bit on the fence regarding the match-up, because to me, with his serving quality, he’s capable of getting enough free points to be comfortable on his service games. As I said, his baseline solidity should be strong enough to do just what’s needed on return. A 7–5, 6–3 win with one break per set wouldn’t surprise me.

What also wouldn’t surprise me is seeing him get bogged down in baseline rallies against the shrewd tactician Agut, making quite a lot of errors and getting stuck in a trap match. The Spaniard made a good impression on me in the first round and could spring the upset?